YES renews eight sponsors for 2011 on heels of best revenue year for N.Y. Yankees network

Coming off the best revenue year for the New York Yankees on YES, the regional sports network has already renewed eight sponsors for the 2011 MLB season.

Howard Levinson, YES senior vice president of ad sales, credited the record double-digit revenue increase in 2010 to renewed interest following the Yankees' 2009 World Series championship and from a recovery in the ad market, which saw previously moribund categories like auto attracting a fleet of advertisers. Yankees ratings on YES were down slightly, dipping from 4.62 to 4.48, but the male 24- to 54-year-old demographic was up 11 percent.

For 2011, renewals have been completed with WB Mason, which returns to sponsor the postgame show; Cablevision; Ford, which will be the pregame show sponsor; Phillips-Van Heusen/Izod; Acura; Bob's Discount Furniture; Fox news channels; and Bigelow Tea, which is sponsoring the "Post-Game Plus" show on YESNetwork.com.

Levinson said YES Network's ad sales figure is easily double digits ahead of last year at this time. With those kinds of results, he said additional Yankee programming on YES is under consideration. Looking ahead, he expects the financial services market to rebound this season, along with airlines.